New Twitter app streams NFL games and other sports

A mock-up shows the new Twitter live-streaming app for Apple TV. The free app will include live streams of 10 National Football League Thursday night games.

Photo: Twitter

Twitter is making a play for people’s living rooms, unveiling an app Wednesday for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Microsoft’s Xbox One that will showcase its bet on live content.

Twitter’s new free app includes live streams of 10 National Football League Thursday night games, and all live videos from MLB Advanced Media, the National Basketball Association, Pac-12 Networks, Campus Insiders, Bloomberg News and the business news startup Cheddar.

“We’re excited to introduce this new experience to people, without requiring a pay wall or having to log in to Twitter,” Anthony Noto, chief financial officer of Twitter, said in a statement.

Twitter, the social media company, wants to draw a large mainstream audience with live-streamed television events after struggling to increase its user base. It also is betting that a larger audience will make it more attractive for advertisers, especially for online video ads, which command a premium.

Twitter has bet big on this live-streaming vision. This spring, Twitter beat Facebook and other technology companies to win the rights to live stream the NFL games on Thursday nights. Twitter agreed to pay the league around $1 million a game and to let the NFL handle some of the ad sales. Noto once was the NFL’s chief financial officer.

Last season, each Thursday night football game drew an average of 13 million viewers. Twitter will stream its first NFL game Thursday.

Twitter’s new app will be available in select markets starting Wednesday. Apple TV users will also be able to see live premium video and video clips posted on Twitter side-by-side.